Something Like Quicksilver
by Wellies
Summary: She leaves and he stays. Away from him she prospers and away from her he struggles. She is a bit hollow and he is a bit full. She has risen up and he has fallen in.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: she is the moon.

The years have passed quickly, slowly. She muses over this piece of information while she watches the clouds, oddly reminiscent of a pineapple-haired man who couldn't be torn from this spot, up until very recently.

Shikamaru had taken his first S-ranked mission as ANBU two days ago. To the hysterics of his female teammate and his best friend, he had come back unconscious. And stayed that way.

Hinata had stopped by his hospital these last two days, cleaning the little area assigned to him, placing fresh flowers on a little table that sits near his bed, and sitting, for hours at times, in complete silence. She just held his hand, these past two days, nothing but a silence presence of reassurance. At least she hoped so. No one ever notices her come and go. She is the waning moon, in the face of the other eight stars that belittle her glow; stars that shine with pink and blue and orange and, oddly enough, reek of stale potato chips and wet dog.

And though, it really isn't in her character, Hinata allows herself one, just one, moment of weakness, stopping to think of the hand that life has dealt her. No matter how hard she trains, no matter how hard she cries and studies and prays, she can never seem to move forward. She is frustrated. She is just as weak today as she was when she was five.

She lifts a hand in front of her face, a pale appendage free of scars and blemishes and calluses and she wonders, almost desperately, _What will it take?_

She has asked herself this question many times, so excessively that the query is almost useless, carrying no real weight behind it and she thinks that maybe, it is not worth trying anymore. She hates her hand, hates the perfectness of her body. Not a scar, not a bruise, not a single discoloration. She is eighteen and has gone through many hardships and trials, and has not a scar to show for it. In her perfection she finds herself undesirable, because since when has anyone really desire flawlessness anyway?

_The cuts from the scalpel are small and tiny, just little dents on her lower belly, and sometimes, sometimes she thinks the whole ordeal is a dream, for there is no mark, no mark of shame._

She is a failure.

Her mind flashes to the solemn look of Naruto on the battlefield, glowing brighter than she ever will. And the words fall from his mouth, soft and gentle and all-too-hopeless, "It's alright, Hinata. You've done enough."

_The words break her because she knows that it will never be too much, not really. They break her because she realizes, _Oh, the sun is bright.

And really she is correct, because those who stare at the sun too long lose their vision. Perhaps this is the reason she is forever looking down.

What can failures offer a village? What is her purpose, really? A defective cog holds no value to the clock.

As she lies, looking up at entities far above and beyond her, she dreams a dream, a dream she has held so close to her heart she has not dared to say it out loud before today, before realizing that a defective cog can just fly off its peg and roll away.

_Good riddance!_ Says the Clock.

She knows she is mixing metaphors and personifying inanimate objects, but she is _dreaming _now. She has only dreamed a number of times before, once when she created her own chakra technique, and twice when she jumped in to fight Pein. And when she dreams… She gives a soft laugh that barely fills the air.

_When she dreams, all bets are off._

And so this is her first good-bye, her first spoken desire:

"Kami-sama, let me become a star."

The former Hyuuga princess, the dead last of the Rookie Nine, the moon, the failure, and defective cog stands up, brushes the grass from her baggy pants and goes quietly, like the sunset, to make the last of her rounds.

* * *

Tsunade folds her hands in front of her as she studies the wisp of the girl in front of her. Long, indigo hair that stretches to the top of her hips, slightly chapped pink lips pressed into a serene smile, and eyes that hold all the depth of the oceans in their sockets.

Tsunade has always been intrigued by this specimen of the Rookie Nine, never really connecting with her as she did Sakura, Shikamaru, or Naruto. She never learned anything about the dark-haired girl before her, for she is a _girl, _in Tsunade's mind not a _shinobi._

She looks too sad to be a shinobi, too forgiving and too soft to be a shinobi. She is a girl who says sorry as she stops her enemies' heart.

She's too accommodating.

"Let me leave," the Wisp in front of her says.

Tsunade raises an eyebrow in reply to her demand. The stutter she remembers her having at 13 is gone, in place a voice that is too peaceful to really make an impact on her, "Oh?"

Hinata just smiles and says, "What in the world would a clock maker want with a malformed cog?"

Tsunade's mind moves like molasses, on days like this where she misses Dan and Nawaki more than she wants some sake and their absence from her life is harder than most of her days. She doesn't quite understand, Hinata can see. She is tired, Hokage-sama is tired. The silence stretches out, like a rubber band. It is snapped with the caress of Hinata's voice against the blonde's skin. It is soft like a lullaby and meant to be just as reassuring and in a way, it wins Tsunade over before Tsunade can really tell that she was playing a game.

"Hokage-sama, you will have my allegiance to this village. I will serve your successor without complaint."

Tsunade is tired, and feels like nit-picking because that is what grumpy, sober Hokages do when they are tired, "And if I don't choose a successor anytime soon?"

Hinata just gives that smile again. "Surely, Tsunade-sama, you must be tired. Living through multiple wars fatigues a person, even a Sannin."

The Hokage bristles at the sixth word in her sentence, "I am shinobi."

"I do not believe your humanity has to be compromised for the sake of your profession."

Tsunade doesn't agree, but it is a nice thought and she is tired and settles back into her chair, "Where will you go?"

Hinata looks to the window as a bug lands on the sill. She walks to the sill and coaxes it onto her finger, whispering something that sounds like, "Tell them I am being selfish again."

She extends her hand out the open window and the bug flies. She watches it disappear before she answers.

"To Rai, I think."

The Hokage laughs dryly. "Your womb is _hunted_ in Rai."

Those lavender eyes meet hers, hardening before softening into that passiveness again, "I don't suppose you know, Hokage-sama?"

"What?"

"I was shamed when I was branded," her voice is too light, too lofty to pin down. "The day the Hyuuga emancipated me, I was rendered unable to bear children."

Tsunade vaguely remembers this:

_She was checking up on a pale Hyuuga girl, with hair that tumbled down her back and onto the bed in a haphazard mess and wide eyes that grew ever wider as feet and swung out and down, too tiny to reach the floor. She remembers, with vividness, the pale, frail hand that clutched at her lower belly and the way her pale shoulders shook under the paper blue dress of hospital patients._

_But, with clarity, she remembers thinking, _Must've had an abortion.

How wrong she had been.

Tsunade sighs, shuffles some papers. She is feeling guilty and maybe she gives the Wisp in front of her a break to assuage that fear in her. She feels like a grubby politician, even as she makes the deal with the girl in front of her, "Let's make it an S-rank. Your official mission is to help strengthen the bonds between Konoha and the other hidden villages. Over a course of three years you, under your new status as Konoha's universal diplomat, will visit other nations. After those three years have elapsed, you will be required to come back to Konoha and serve under the new Hokage."

Hinata gives that same smile. "Hai, Hokage—"

"Tsunade," she interrupted.

"Tsunade-san," Hinata corrected.

Hinata turns to the door, the only one of the Rookie Nine to not leave by the window. Tsunade remember tiny shoulders, shaking with the weight of the world.

"Hinata."

"Hai, Tsunade-san?"

"Just come back."

She watches the Wisp walk away. To the empty room, she says, "Just let her heal."

* * *

For most of her goodbyes, she only stays a moment says she is going on a mission. She doesn't linger in Shikamaru's room any longer than the time it takes to change the water in his flowers. She doesn't say goodbye to her sister because, technically, her sister is no longer her kin. She only pauses to stroke her nii-san's (who really, legally and biologically, isn't her nii-san either) hair for a moment, because for any longer, she would break and shatter and cry and never complete the mission she has requested.

She laughs and smiles with Sakura and Ino and Tenten simply because she cannot, _will not_, bear to see their looks of needless worry and simmering disbelief in her abilities.

She doesn't even stop to see her teammates. They know she is leaving. This is all they will know, all they _can _know because anything after that will send them reeling and demanding that they go with her.

And then there was Naruto.

She drops down from the trees directly in front of him, silent and solemn as she says, "Uzumaki-kun."

She allows herself this familiarity, the calling of –kun, but falls back to calling him by his family name rather than his given because she knows that his name will always be a lodestone for her.

She's loved him for long time and has never strayed. She's been faithful to him, will be faithful to him forever.

He sputters, his reaction to her larger than life. She just gives that same serene smile, and tells him again, "I'm going to be selfish again. Forgive me; tell minna-san to forgive me."

A niggling voice says, _if they miss you, really._

His brow furrows in confusion as she smiles a bit wider and his own smile disappears.

"Eh?"

She nods, meeting his eyes directly as she says, "I've been given a mission."

"Cool!" His reaction is instant and heart-warming in its predictability.

The quiet creeps up, before Hinata breaks it. She says the next words freely and they float around the two of them:

"I love you, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto freezes, panicked eyes rising to hers because _he isn't sure how to answer her yet_ and he doesn't wish to hurt her, the fragile thing in front of him—

Soft lips press to his uncovered forehead and a delicate hand touches his shoulder very lightly before Hinata steps back.

The mellow fire in her eyes startles him.

"I love you, Uzumaki-kun. I thank you for your determination and I thank you for your smile and your laugh and I thank you and Kami-sama that he made you, _you._"

She takes a breath and steps, dances, out of reach. She is untouchable in this moment. She is the waxing moon as her eyes smile at him, even if her mouth doesn't. Naruto has never seen a creature more lovely.

"Uzumaki-kun, wipe that look off your face," she scolds him. She moves her fingers to the corners of her mouth.

"Smile, Uzumaki-kun, or you'll make me doubt myself. I'm letting you go from my love, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto doesn't know what to do with himself. His forehead tingles and belatedly, he realizes that she will probably never call him his given name again. Her words knock against his head in a steady rhythm that drives him lightheaded. Somehow, he knows that something like quicksilver had slipped out his reach, even if this whole encounter is going a bit too fast for him and he doesn't understand as she leaves him there, training forgotten.

"I don't feel very free, Hinata." But she was already gone.

Hinata packs in a hurry, trembling with something between excitement and fear and impatience. And then, she is gone.

She bows to her home village gates, respectful, at a distance.

"Sayonara, Konoha."

* * *

Hinata goes to heal.

For those readers who wonder where exactly is the next chapter of Shinobi, the author implores you to be patient (as if you all aren't patient enough).

The author is really excited about this fiction.

Thank you for reading and welcome, dear readers, to Quicksilver.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: and she turns her face away from him, the sun.

She comes back quietly. If she were a siege, the battle would have already been won.

Delicately, oh so softly, she alights on the domed rooftop of the Hokage's tower. With a small sigh of relief, she sprawls into a lazy lounge on the roof and closes her eyes.

She's been on a diplomatic mission for three years, smiling and nodding and healing from pains she doesn't wish to speak on, and she thinks she deserves a nap. She exhales out and absorbs the rising sun's rays. She stays and sleeps on the roof for the day, and later she is hidden by the dark and the absence of the moon and the stars that fail to shine that night.

**The Next Day**

The breath comes in and out harshly as he completes his stretches. There is a burning pain in his right calf and there is a stitch in his left side but the pain is a good pain. The pain says that his hard body can still _feel,_ that he has not frozen over solid, losing the joy he once had. The innocence. His blue eyes relax as his body crouches down into the final stance. Another successful exercise, and he thanks Kami.

"Hokage-sama," a solicitous voice says.

"Hai, Mina-san?" The man speaks, his vocal chords moving to produce a voice that grates like sandpaper against wood.

"I have the documents that you have requested to be brought to your room."

Naruto rises to his full height, towering over his latest secretary. She is a small little creature, and the way she cowers back reminds him vaguely of a girl that left this village a while ago. The way she turns to fiddle importantly with her clipboard does not.

He holds his hand out to receive the documents and their tan hands touch each other. Mina recoils, just a bit, as if she has been shocked by static electricity but Naruto just turns, turns away because he does not wish to see her expression, and have to feign obliviousness to her odd behavior. It reminds him a little too much of a time when he truly was oblivious, and when his obliviousness hurt a comrade dear to him.

_Hinata…_

This is how it has been, these past three years, when _she _would randomly flitter through his thoughts and leave him wondering how she is, how her mission is going, what she is doing, what she is eating, if she liked ramen, if she…

If she…

Well, it wasn't worth thinking about.

He gives a cursory glance at the papers in his hand and something stands out to him. His eyebrows raise. "One of the Mizukage's aides is scheduled to arrive today?"

Mina nods, "It seems our ambassador has been doing some real work."

"Was I told of this before? It seems sudden."

Mina nods again, "I told you once every day for three weeks, Hokage-sama."

"I don't remember that."

"It's to be expected, Hokage-sama; you are a busy man."

Naruto scratches his whiskered cheek, not really taking notice of Mina's comment as he scrutinizes the documents. A low chuckle, "Asian pear, huh?"

Mina's jaw falls open just a little in mild surprise. She can count, if asked, the number of times she has seen her Hokage laugh on her ten fingers and this counts eight. She watches in awe as he sweeps his Hokage robes onto his shoulders and grasps his hat. Stately, he moves to opening of his office. His blue eyes slide back to lock with those of his secretary and attendant.

"Come, Mina. Let's go see the people and meet the Mizukage's aide."

She rushes to keep up with his long strides.

"Hokage-sama."

"Hm?"

"You seem to be in a good mood today."

Mina isn't sure, but she thinks that her Hokage might have grinned.

There is no joy among the Hyuuga. Hanabi can see it; she can see the monotone, the quiet that has lain like a plague on her clansmen for three years, perhaps longer.

* * *

In those three years, she has taken long walks around the compound, searching for that lost joy, for that peace that is not forced or austere. She has been searching, these past years, for something her sister (damn what the Hyuuga say, her sister is _hers_) seems to have taken with her. She finds many things, on these _adventures_ of hers, but she has not found what she originally wanted.

A choked sound leaves her mouth without her permission and Hanabi veers off her regular path and sinks to her knees in front of an old tree. There isn't any sort of mark, and it is not the grave of her mother, but it is just as precious. Just as _dead_.

Its bark is a dark brown, almost black and shot through with strains of green lichen and a huddle of mushrooms make their home around the base of the tree. Its leaves are a sickly yellow color that could pass for golden, on a better day, if the sun would shine correctly.

But then, to Hanabi, the sun never shined right in the first place.

She remember this tree. She remembers the time that Hinata had stolen into her room and spirited her away to this spot, far from the regular Hyuuga's eye range and earshot. She remembers how Hinata had told her, "_I can see you struggling."_

She remembers how her eyes had widened, how her mouth opened to protest the observation of her sister only to realize she couldn't, because it was true. She didn't know, still doesn't know, how her sister had seen it, but she had and she had put her hand to Hanabi's cheek, smoothing the pad of her thumb over the white expanse and said, "_But I can also see your heart and the strength of your mind. If it comes down to it, I will gladly submit to you, imouto (little sister)."_

She had thought the statement absurd; her sister was a million times stronger than her, a million times better. There was no way her father would pick her over Hinata; the very thought was blasphemy.

The next day she had been sealed, and escorted from Hyuuga premises.

Now, when Hanabi wants to get away, far from the regular Hyuuga's eye range and earshot, she comes to this tree and speaks her mind. Usually, the air fills with her worries, things that she would usually tell her sister. But today there has been more discontent among the Main and Side branch, and she is tired and her feet are swollen and her jaw hurts from talking down the egos from both sides of the family.

And so, she only has the energy to say one thing and one thing only:

"I want you here, onee-sama; come back to me."

**The Next Day**

The figure stays on the roof, but it is awake now. It is the next day and she feels rejuvenated. Casually, she lets her chakra flare and waits. She knows they will be here soon; she can see the little line of insects crawling toward her and she can hear the footsteps pattering as fast as possible. And so she waits, and she wonders at the warmth of the sun and worries about their reaction to her appearance.

Two shadows fall over her and quietly, lightly she says, "I can't feel the sun anymore."

And then she looks up, into brown eyes and black shades and takes a breath. Everything is quiet and she waits for them to speak. She needs to hear their voice; she needs to know if they are upset with her, needs to know if she still has teammates to go lean on. As the silence goes on, she sighs and lies back down and puts her hands behind her head. They will not speak to her now and she knows that they are mad at her absence, her sudden disappearance from their lives.

Team Eight has never been apart from one another but she has broken their record.

"I won't act like I wasn't wrong, and I will not ask for your forgiveness or tell you my reasons for leaving or hide behind the excuse that I had a mission; I was selfish."

They do not answer her and she cannot meet their eyes any longer, so she keeps her gaze on the trial of kikaichu and track their new trajectory.

They are moving away from her.

The desperation rises like bile. She whispers, "Remember Pein?"

_She faced them guiltily._

"_I'm sorry," she said. Her eyes were dead as she continued. "I didn't mean to be a burden to you."_

_Hinata clasped her upper arm with her hand. She gave them a small, quivering smile, "I didn't want to worry you, but I seem to do it anyway ne?"_

_They don't think she even knew they had heard them when she muttered, "That's what I get for being selfish."_

She doesn't see their eyes widen, but they do and their poses relax imperceptibly. But Hinata has made up her mind; they will do without her. She gets up and dusts off her loose harem pants, fixes the hitai-ate around her neck. Her hair is tousled and falls just past her hips.

"I think I should inform Hokage-sama of my arrival."

She leaves. Several minutes after her absence, Kiba gives a harsh laugh, "Kami, Shino, did you _see_ her?"

Shino nods.

"She wouldn't even meet our eyes."

Shino nods.

"She must feel really guilty right now, even guiltier than when she talked to us after Pein."

Shino nods.

"At least this time she didn't apologize."

Shino hums in agreement.

"She's grown a pair."

Finally, Shino speaks and his voice lacks the usual hard edge, "It's all we've ever wanted of her."

* * *

Naruto is face down on his desk, as his secretary tells him his itinerary for the day. Sometimes, he wonders what he was thinking when he took this position. Baa-chan _never_ told him of this thing called an itinerary. _He doesn't even know how to do it,_ and he's _Hokage_. He lifts his head just slightly, and eyes his secretary with a rare crafty look in his eye. _Shizune_ never gave _her_ Hokage an itinerary. Maybe it was his secretary's fault he had so much work to do…

"Hokage-sama, don't you dare think about firing me," Mina said dryly, losing her shy demeanor for a moment.

A smirk. "There's a difference between being _fired_ and taking a prolonged paid vacation."

"If you gave me one of those, I wouldn't be coming back, Hokage-sama."

"Am I that disgusting, Mina? You would just leave your poor, virile, Hokage without a leash?"

He can see Mina's blush from here. She gains her composure quickly, quicker than normal and he's relieved.

"You seem to be in a good mood today, Hokage-sama."

He stretches his arms over his head and nods indulgently, "I just have a feeling—"

A knock.

Mina turns to the door and opens it, only to find herself staring at a bowed figure.

A soft voice says, "Ohayo, Mina-san, it is nice to meet you in person. I am Konoha's official ambassador, reporting for duty after a three-year trip to the Hidden Villages."

The head rises and the body straightens to its full height. There is pollen in the woman's hair and there is a hitai-ate wrapped around her neck. Lavender eyes meet hers determinedly, the full lips are drawn into a professional line and the equally full brows are drawn together in concentration.

Mina's eyes widen. Though she is older than those graduates, she has heard of and met the Rookie Nine, heard that there was a Hyuuga among them, but this is her first time meeting her in person. She wonders, absently, how she knew her name before she introduced herself but it comes to her; she is shinobi.

Mina moves to the side, gesturing for the kunoichi to enter the room, "Yes, yes, we've been getting rave reports from other Hidden Villages. We're glad to have you back. However, we expected you to arrive with the aide from Mizu." The _two days ago_ is implied.

Hinata nodded sheepishly as she swept into the office, keeping her eyes on Mina, "Hai, but the travel tired me so I rested the first day. I rested the next day as well. I woke in the early hours of today and decided not to burden you with my arrival and living arrangements."

Mina frowned; what an odd kunoichi, "Where did you sleep for two days?"

"On your roof."

Mina stares at the smiling woman before her and turns to her Hokage, "Hokage-sama?"

Naruto nods, blue eyes boring into Hinata's turned head. Hinata slowly turns to him and her smile grows a bit wider.

"Uzumaki-kun, I knew I'd be calling you Hokage one day. Congratulations."

He swallows and his jaw clenches, "Yes, it's been two years since I was inaugurated."

Her smile softens as she looks out the window, "It seems to have been a good two years for the village."

Naruto looks away. His mind has been whirling since he heard her voice. The emotions rise out his stomach quickly and lodge in his throat. Somehow he croaks out, "It has."

Mina interrupts the strained dialogue on behalf of her Hokage, "So where would you like to stay, Hinata-san? We have some nice apartments designated for ninja."

"Where I live must be large enough for my summons. They don't like to be in small spaces and like to see the sky."

Mina nods graciously, "Of course, Hinata-san. Our apartments will accommodate for your summons and have enough windows. Hokage-sama made sure to think about that when he designed them."

Hinata smiled at Mina and turned her smile to Naruto, "Sugoi (amazing), Hokage-sama."

Naruto just nodded stiffly. Hinata turned back to Mina, "I'll head there very soon. Arigato."

She moves to the door and Mina scrabbles to catch up to her large strides. Hinata is just a bit shorter than her Hokage and she envies the easy grace of her movements.

"Ah, Hinata-san! Do you need some help with luggage?"

"No, I keep my things sealed in a scroll. Thank you, Mina-san."

With that she leaves.

* * *

The day is done and Naruto looks out at his village as he stands on his patio, wearing only in his sweatpants as he sips a cup of tea. He doesn't register the taste, not really, and he doesn't take time to admire the sight of his village alive with lights. He doesn't think of anything, really.

_Uzumaki-kun, I knew I'd be calling you Hokage one day. Congratulations._

The warmth in her tone reminds him of that day, when she kissed his forehead and told him she would let him go. His hands tighten around his cup. He remembers those years after the war ended, how he never gave her much notice, treating her as if she hadn't confessed her love and helped him multiple times. And the worst part was that he'd genuinely thought he wasn't doing anything wrong. And then, she'd just left. And he started seeing the holes she left behind. There wasn't anyone that smiled at his childish jokes and antics, there wasn't anyone to help him home after he'd drunk too much (well, there was, but no one as caring), no one to pay attention to him and tell him if there was some ramen noodles hanging from the corner of his mouth.

He wonders how he never saw it before, and he wishes that he could go back in time and do it all over again.

A knock on the door and Naruto knows it can only be Sakura. He opens the door, not bothering to put on a shirt because Sakura doesn't desire him, hasn't desired him since that one night months ago.

"_Sasuke-kun."_

It doesn't stop her eyes from roving over his topless form and Naruto pretends he doesn't see it. He leaves the door open for her and retreats deeper into his house, silently telling her to follow. She does, he can hear her footsteps and smell the whiff of tea tree and neem oil that permeates the air around her.

He sits down at his kitchen table, feeling like a stranger in his own house as Sakura makes herself at home, pulling out a mug and boiling some water. She ruffles through the contents of his cabinet, pulling out the bag of dried hibiscus flowers he keeps just for her and dropping one into the empty mug. As she waits for the water to boil, she places her hands on the opposite sides of his island and says, "I heard she's back."

Naruto gives a noncommittal grunt, choosing to focus on the mug in his hands rather than the fact that _Sakura acts like she pays the bills on this damn place_.

Her green eyes survey him, "How was she?"

He bites out, "Fine."

Sakura looks away from him, turns her gaze to one of the many windows around his kitchen. "I miss her, you know. She's such a sweet thing, easy to talk to, a good listener…"

"You and Ino miss belittling her, you mean."

Sakura's neck turns back to him so quickly he can imagine the snap. "Don't push your guilt on to me, Naruto. I'm not the one who ignored her confession."

Yes, that's right. He'd forgotten he had told Sakura, in that first drunken night of passion, about that confession.

"Just shut up about it, Sakura," he says softly and Sakura shuts her mouth, watching him with gentle eyes. He hasn't spoken so softly for years. She's forgotten he'd had that side of him; she's forgotten that he wasn't always the strong Hokage she was used to speaking with, or the grown, attractive man who'd given her the comfort of his bed when she asked for it. She'd forgotten just how vulnerable he was, when he wasn't being strong or sexy, or both.

"_Hinata…"_

She wants to comfort him. She wants to hold him, run her hand over his jaw and make it _stop_ that awful clenching. But it's not her place anymore, hasn't been her place for months. He's taken, not hers; he wasn't hers even when she had him.

They don't like to speak about that night, when they found out that they'd been fooling themselves for a year and some odd number of months.

"Yeah," she says just as softly. "Yeah, I get it."

The silence stretches out, before Naruto says, "I'm just… _surprised._ You know what she said to me? Said she came two days ago, not counting today. Mina asked where she had been sleeping and she said 'your roof.' Did I mention that she had _pollen_ in her hair?"

Naruto gives a little helpless laugh and he puts a weather-beaten hand to his forehead. The whiskers on his cheeks seem to quiver as his eyes flick down to the table. Sakura can see the length of his blond eyelashes.

"How crazy is that?" he murmurs.

Sakura lifts the side of her mouth into a half-smile, "Ludicrous."

Naruto sends a half-hearted glare at her, "Smart-ass, stop using words I can't spell."

Sakura snorted, turning to the steaming kettle. She poured the hot water into the mug, "You always were stupid."

He doesn't answer.

"Stupid boy," she says to herself, though it's clearly audible, "stop worrying so much. She'll forgive you."

* * *

The second chapter, done! Reviews would be really helpful. Is the tone of this chapter the same as last chapter? Does the text sound stilted?

I just want more feedback. Also, Naruto is Masashi Kishimoto's.

Whether you review or not, the writer thanks you kindly for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

hCHAPTER THREE: and on her journey, the moon encounters Venus.

She can still smell him. His scent tickles her nostrils still. She can still see him—the broad shoulders and chiseled features and the mop of golden hair. His eyes.

And the feelings rush back so quickly that she startles, and worries that she will revert to the timid girl she once was. But it is good, seeing him again, alive and well. He seems different, older and wiser and she wonders where the little boy went, the one that she would watch cry when no one played with him. The one who declared, loudly, that he would be _Hokage and then everyone would acknowledge me –ttebayo. _She wonders when he stopped saying dattebayo.

She thinks it's cute.

At the word cute, she forces down a blush and snaps back to attention. What was she doing again?

"Hinata-san?" the old vendor says.

She blinks. "Oh yes, Takahashi-san. This is all." She hands over the bundle of dried herbs and waits for the aged man to finish the transaction.

He hands her the money, which she stows away into a pocket of her overalls. She is in civilian clothes today. It seems that she has nothing to do after coming back to Konoha. She was hoping to catch the aide from Kiri, but he has been busy with negotiations with the produce merchants of Konohagakure. She makes a note to ask about him the next time she visits Na- the Hokage's Tower.

Takahashi-san offers her the burlap bag of herbs. She reaches out to take it, but he drops the bag on the cart and grasps her pale hand with both of his wrinkled ones. Hinata stares into dark eyes.

"It's good to have you back, Hinata-san."

_That's right,_ she realizes. She forgot that the people of Konoha were so kind, so warm. She has spent years traveling, going on missions with all different kinds of shinobi, has spent years talking to people that were not from her village. And those people were nice. Fun. Interesting, as all people are. But she forgot just what made her love Konoha so much.

_Takahashi-san's hands are very warm._

"Hai," she says quietly. "I am glad to be back."

Takahashi can see the light blush on her cheeks, the slight smile. His crafty eyes take in her feature greedily. He has missed this particular youth; ever since she was old enough to walk, she had visited his humble stall with her mother. When her mother passed, she kept coming. He is glad to see that even after three years of absence, the habit has continued.

He strokes her hand with his thumb, then releases it. "I'm glad."

Hinata's eyes flick away from his in a very familiar gesture. She is embarrassed. "I must leave now, Takahashi-san. Take care."

The old man waves his hand good-naturedly. "I've told you a million times, Hinata-san. Call me 'Ji-chan!"

The loud comment draws the attention of other early morning customers and Hinata stumbles, spluttering a little and almost tripping over her feet before she regains her balance with the edge of the cart. She sends him a quick smile, to let him know that she isn't trying to be abrupt, before she turns on her heel and walks away. Takahashi smiles easily at her back. _She's such a sweet child_, he thinks to himself, eyes darting lazily over his cart before lighting on the small bundle of change on the edge. He blinks confusedly. He could've sworn that she put that money in her pocket…

He gives a boyish grin that almost looks out of place on his leathery face.

That sly little girl.

* * *

Hinata feels good. The sun is shining and the birds seems to be chirping, chirping at her. She feels like chirping back, just to see if they will answer. They did when she visited Kusa. She wonders if the birds in Konoha are as friendly.

She lets out a peep, just to see. The trees are silent for a moment, then the sound comes back tenfold. It's the greeting of the forest and she welcomes them, chirping and peeping and letting sounds that almost sound like squawks leave her mouth.

She is glad that the natives of Kusagakure taught her this skill. It's beautiful, communicating with creatures, even if she doesn't quite know what they are saying past _hello,_ _how are you? _and other phrases.

She opens her mouth to let out a low whistle in response to the blue jay's query, and this is how her sensei finds her, and this is how her godson sees her again.

"Kaa-san, why is that woman talking to the birds?" says the juvenile voice. Hinata turns slowly, a bit startled that she is caught in the act, but not at all ashamed.

Her lavender eyes widen in surprise. The years have been kind to her sensei, letting her keep the dark hair and luminous skin and the piercing eyes. Hinata searches her body, and is glad to see that there are no visible scars. Her eyes turn to the little person who is holding her sensei's hand. The boy studies her with an unreadable expression that reminds Hinata of Asuma, and the red irises the six-year-old possesses scares her a little, because it unnerves her that even this six-year-old might see through her.

She briefly wonders if he can see the scars on her abdomen, but dismisses the thought. There's no way he can see them; she barely can and they've been on her body for years.

"Hello, Kurenai-sensei," she says softly.

"Hello, Hinata," her sensei replies, eyes not leaving hers until her attention is diverted by her son.

"Did you see that, Kaa-san? That woman looked like she was talking to the birds," he insisted, fist tightening around his mother's.

Kurenai just turns her eyes to Hinata's. There is a question in those crimson depths: _well, were you?_

Hinata faces the trees and gives a sweet whistle. A little white bird flutters out the trees to land on Hinata's outstretched finger. She walks carefully, keeping her eyes on the bird to make sure that she doesn't jostle him too much. The bird looks too fragile on her finger, so she makes sure to be gentle as she crouches down to her sensei's son.

"This," she says quietly, meeting the red gaze of the boy, "is Arata."

She coos at the bird. "Say hi, Arata."

The little bird gave a hearty chirp, shuffling back and forth along her finger. Hinata keeps her eyes on the boy in front of her, watching as his eyes widen in fascination. His little mouth opens slightly in surprise. She is struck dumb, unable to tell Kurenai's son _no_ as he reaches to touch the bird. The bird flaps his wings and puffs out his chest, warding the boy off. Hinata can feel Arata's talons dig into her finger, a sign of uneasiness.

Hinata smiled. "He's not comfortable with you touching him."

The boy pouted, albeit subtly. "Why not?"

Hinata exchanges some sounds with the bird. "He says you smell like human."

The boy's gaze grows suspicious. "Then why can you touch him? Aren't you human, too?"

"I don't _smell_ like human."

Kurenai listens to the conversation bemusedly. She bends down to stage-whisper in her son's ear just he swells with the beginnings of a tantrum. "Watch the way you speak to your godmother."

Hinata's eyes shoot up to meet Kurenai's smiling ones. Is she forgiven?

Kurenai winks and Hinata visibly relaxes. It seems she is. On the other hand, Kurenai's son, Kyou, looks at Hinata, instantly contrite.

"It's nice to meet you, Kyou-chan. I'm sorry you haven't seen me in so long; I was away on a mission."

The boy looks at Hinata strangely. "How do you know my name?"

Hinata just smiles and fights the urge to ruffle his hair. She still feels tentative—the way she seamlessly adapts to living in Konoha after so long unnerves her, for all the receptiveness of the village. Besides, she has a niggling feeling that Kurenai, while forgiving her, does not trust her completely. She is probably waiting to see if Hinata will run away again, and frankly, Hinata is waiting, too.

"Don't you remember, Kyou-chan? I helped change your diapers many times."

Hinata watches in fascination as the red rises in Kyou's face and she is jealous, jealous beyond belief. _She _wants a child who blushes like Kyou. _She _wants to watch a little boy grow up, she wants to be the one that stops his tantrums and rocks him to sleep. She wants to nurse a child, wants to grow round with one. The desires hit her all at once and take her breath away and she is left clutching her chest.

Someone is asking her what is wrong and she doesn't have the breath to answer and so she just shakes her head, shakes and shakes it because she can't believe she is jealous of her sensei, her beautiful, kind sensei.

A warm hand on her shoulder. "Hinata?" Kurenai sounds concerned and Hinata rises to her feet slowly, as if she is unsure that her feet can carry her.

Maybe this is the reason she didn't say goodbye to her sensei.

With a swallow, Hinata tries to banish all those horrible wants and feelings into the pit of her stomach. It kind of works, the pit of desire and jealousy settling somewhere under her heart.

"I'm fine Kurenai-sensei, Kyou-chan," she says. Her tone is almost detached, and slightly breathy. She wants to reassure them further, tell them that it was just fatigue, but she can't bring herself to lie.

She isn't lying when she said she was fine, either.

"Do you want to stop by our home, Hinata? Catch up with me, play with Kyou-chan?"

Kyou nods earnestly. "There's a family of blue jays that have a nest outside my window. Can you talk to them, too?"

Hinata turns her gaze to his. Strangely, his red-eyed gaze fails to intimidate her this time. She gives him a small smile. "Blue jays are finicky and moody, but I'll try my best."

She turns to Kurenai. "Do you live in the same place?"

Kurenai nods. Hinata has that look in her eye, the one that tells her that she is determined to do something, to prove herself to someone. Resolutely, she turns in the direction of Kurenai's house and starts to walk.

She walks a distance, then turns around and beckons to the mother and son duo.

As they hurry to follow, Kyou tugs on his mother's dress. Kurenai gives her son her attention. "Yes?"

He whispers to her, "Hinata-san is very pretty, ne?"

Kurenai feels like chuckling. _I'm glad someone else sees it, too._

"But she'll get worry lines if she keeps frowning like that, won't see Kaa-san?"

Kurenai lets out a small laugh. _But then again, he _is_ my son. _

* * *

Hinata hasn't been in Kurenai's home for more than eight minutes before there is a knock on the door. Kurenai stands and goes to open the door. Once upon six years ago, she would've opened the door herself, but she knows that she has lost that privilege, and so Hinata turns her attention back to Ryou, who is telling her of his Academy classmates.

"Our teacher is really nice, Hinata-chan. His name is funny, too," Kyou wrinkles his nose. _Cute._

"Do you have Iruka-sensei as a teacher, Kyou-chan?"

"Hai. He is a little boring."

"The Hokage used to say the same thing when he was your age."

Kyou's eyes grow wide. "You know the Hokage?"

"I went to the Academy with him."

Kyou opens his mouth to ask her more about it, and Hinata is fine with this, but then she notices the slight chakra signature and turns around.

"Since when did you come back?" Shikamaru asks.

Hinata surveys him. He is the same, just a little more lean. His eyes are still the same shade of brown, his hair is still in the same high ponytail. His jaw still teeters on the edge of masculine and feminine, his skin still the same shade of olive and there is a scar that cuts diagonally on his chin. She is glad to see that that is the only scar on his face.

She chooses to say hello instead of answering his question. Kyou grins delightedly, glad to see his godfather and he gives his greetings, too. He talks to Shikamaru like a little man, enunciating his words to the syllable and adopting a look of lazy indifference. Hinata watches the transformation, watches Kyou slouch and imitate his godfather to the tee.

It amuses her.

Hinata is content to listen to the conversation between the two, feeling peaceful as Kurenai settled in next to her on the couch. Then she drifts, paying one ear to the conversation as she ponders this feeling in her, vaguely alarmed at how fast she has assimilated into Konoha.

She only comes back when she hears Kyou mention her name. "…know Hinata, Shikamaru-san?"

"Of course. She's one of the Rookie Nine."

Kyou gives a little, manly gasp. "Really?"

"Mm. You haven't seen her around because she was gone."

"Well, I met her today. She can talk to birds; did you know that?"

Shikamaru's dark eyes slid to meet hers. "No, I didn't."

Hinata holds his gaze admirably, and neither looks away for a while. He is probing her, suspicious, and maybe a little angry for reasons she doesn't understand and she is dignified, telling him _I have my reasons_ and asking him _why do you care? _with her eyes. He doesn't answer back, eyes sliding away from her to settle on Kyou again.

"Speaking of, where did you learn that, Hinata?" Kurenai asks, and Hinata is glad for the distraction, because Shikamaru has unsettled her, just a little and she needs something else to focus on.

"Kusa."

"Kusa? How did that happen?" It comes to Hinata that she has neglected her sensei, for these three years, not even saying good-bye before she left. And the guilt hits her, like hail and she feels just as cold. And Hinata thinks that she _must _tell the story, she _has_ to give Kurenai some piece of the life she had when she was away because she _owes_ it to her.

And before she knows it, the words pour out her mouth, like a bedtime story:

"Kusa is a beautiful place; the trees are vast and green with creatures that crawl and slither through the undergrowth below their canopies. I was admiring the sights with an escort and she told me to stop at a stream. She called out and then we saw them."

Here Kyou interrupts with, "Saw who?"

Hinata blinks at him, eyes glazed over with the sight of the forests. Shikamaru watches her enchanted expression, the pink in her cheeks and wonders why she never looked so alive in Konoha.

Her eyes clear halfway and she says, like it is obvious, "The native people."

She goes on, telling about the visits she made with the same escort, whose father happened to be a member of the wandering tribe they encountered, how she spent most of her time with the children, who grabbed her hands and led her around the forest with ease that comes with familiarity and how they taught her the language of the herons that hunt on the marshes near the river that cuts through Kusagakure, and how she asked, one by one, to be taught the language of the other birds that lived there. She tells them of the way she cried when she learned that her first bird friend, Ryou, was eaten by a large family of lizards.

Kurenai, Kyou, and Shikamaru are drawn into Hinata's tale, like they are stepping in the hidden patch of quicksand that Hinata almost sunk into, if not for the helpful children that pulled her back before she was swallowed completely.

And the times moves quickly, and before she knows it, she is finished and Kyou is asleep, right there in the same slouching position and Kurenai is stroking his head and Shikamaru hasn't moved from his spot against the frame of the door. His arms are still crossed in the same position. Hinata wonders if his arms have fallen asleep.

Kurenai makes a motion that she will put Kyou to sleep, and that Shikamaru and Hinata could let themselves out. Shikamaru and Hinata gesture towards her. With their hands they tell her that they will wait for her to come back.

She scoops her son up, disappearing further into the humble home.

There is a semi-easy silence, in which Hinata tries to forget the feeling of Shikamaru's accusing eyes on her person. Her eyes follow the movements of her sensei as she walks back into the room. Time is at a standstill then, and it is just her and Kurenai in this room; Shikamaru ceases to exist.

"Hello again, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata says quietly. Kurenai just moves to stand near Shikamaru and Hinata doesn't miss the gesture.

"Hello, Hinata."

Their eyes never leave each other, lavender and crimson. Kurenai gives a little sniff, says, "I trust your trip went well?"

"Yes. I believe I represented Konoha well." _I'm sorry for leaving without telling you._

"I'm glad. Konoha needed to reestablish its bonds with Konoha, away from the war." _I worried for you, Hinata._

"It was a strategic move to send an ambassador." _I know._

"Surely, Tsunade-sama saw your worth." _I _missed _you._

"I hope so," Hinata says. Her eyes are telling a different story. _I'm here now._

"I know so," Kurenai says. Her eyes flick away from Hinata's, and Hinata can feel the tension lift. The spell breaks and Hinata remembers that Shikamaru is there again. Her eyes stay on Kurenai, watching as she rolls her shoulders.

"Alright, you youngsters, show yourselves out my home," she says lightly. She turns away from them, starting to move deeper into her home.

"Kurenai," Shikamaru's husky voice calls, "don't forget about it."

"Mm," Kurenai answers, "I haven't."

Shikamaru is content, waiting until she is gone before looking at Hinata. He scrutinizes her for a little before blinking tiredly. "Troublesome."

Hinata just shuffles toward the door, sending him an inviting glance. He sighs and follows her; she can feel his presence at her back. She does not feel intimidated, not when his hands are in his pockets and his shoulders are lax. Perhaps, if he were tense, it would be a different story.

They let themselves out Kurenai's front door. Hinata matches her strides to his, making it clear that she will accompany him. Shikamaru doesn't protest, so she thinks it is okay.

They walk like that, side by side, and it is nice.

She follows behind Shikamaru, when they walk up the stairs to the apartments and she is distantly worried that he will think that she is stalking him.

She walks to her apartment door, right next to his and it isn't until she is halfway across her threshold that she hears his voice again.

"That story."

She stiffens. "Hai?"

"Kyou liked it."

The comment confuses her. Why mention such a thing? She hears his door close behind him. Wooden, she steps into her own home, undressing as she moves farther in, letting her clothes fall to the floor as they will.

Naked, she slips into her bed, and dreams.

* * *

**It came to my attention that there might be more than one reader who has a problem with Hinata calling Naruto 'Uzumaki-kun'.** For the ardent Hinata lovers, I know that many feel that Hinata calling Naruto 'Naruto-kun' is a big part of her character, since it shows her affection for Naruto, and if she doesn't call him as she does in the actual manga, it can unsettle them and throw them off from reading this fanfiction. I understand if readers don't want to continue reading this fanfiction. My reasons for making Hinata call him 'Uzumaki-kun' is a symbol of her seperating herself from just loving him. Hinata, to me, is more than a woman who loves a man. She's a person, a kunoichi with people she knows and people she gets herbs from and people she talks to occasionally. She has likes and dislikes and little things that just drive her _crazy._ In my mind, once she stopped calling him Naruto-kun, I could start to explore who Hinata is, rather than just the girl who will do anything for the boy she loves.

It's a calculated risk, and I knew that someone would have major objections. I just want those readers to know that your complaints about Hinata's calling of Naruto have been taken into consideration and will not be patronized or belittled. I hope that you will continue to read, because the romance, when it blooms, will be beautiful and breath taking.

Please, the readers will want to stay with this story and the readers who are skeptical and/or curious, please leave reviews telling me your thoughts and suggestions.

Thank you for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: The solar system convenes, the moon seeks out two planets, and she and the sun almost collide.

She feels restless. The moon is full tonight and she can feel the night calling to her. She toys with the idea of visiting the nearest lake, to dance on its surface and feel the moonlight on her skin. It's risky though. Hinata doesn't feel like being discovered. She pushes the idea aside along with her thin sheets. She remembers pulling on her pants and a shirt and then she is on the roof of her apartment.

The moon smiles down at her and Hinata closes her eyes. Eyes still shut, she reaches out a hand and swears she can feel the stars, can stroke the moon with one finger. She fancies that if she withdraws her hand and rub it on her clothes, she would finish glittering nebulae dust on them in the morning. It is nights like these when she feels most alive. She is close tonight, close to Kami. Close to Naruto. Close to her sister and Kurenai. Neji. Kiba and Shino and all the rest.

Close.

And she drifts off to sleep again.

* * *

Shikamaru walks into the pub. The day is young, the younger shinobi just starting to emerge from the depths of sleep deprivation and grim missions. When they crawl out their holes, they converge on this space. The pub, that is.

He spots who he's looking for in an instant. With his lazy gait, he walks to the man nursing a warm bottle of sake between his pale hands. His brown hair would spill like silk over his neck and down his back if it wasn't woven into a tight braid. Shikamaru watches in amusement as the man takes a long sip of sake. From here he can see the bloodstains on his shirt. He deduces that Neji must have just finished a mission—whatever it was, it was bad enough to send him straight to the pub.

"Oi, Neji," he calls languidly. Neji doesn't spare him a glance.

"Not now, Nara."

Shikamaru finally reaches him and takes the seat directly across from Neji. He doesn't mind that Neji is trying to drown his worries in sake. He's spent many times here with the Hyuuga, and knows that he is somewhat snappish when interrupted whilst drinking.

Shikamaru quirks an eyebrow, "How's life?"

"How does it seem, Shikamaru?" Neji's tone is flat.

The Nara sends Neji an apathetic gaze. With a huge amount of effort, he pries away the bottle of sake away from the long haired man. He takes a swig and gives Neji a blank look at his semi-outraged expression, "You'll be all right. I need this more than you do right now. Humor me."

To his surprise, the bottle isn't even half empty. It's almost full. He snorts at Neji, taking a long draw from the bottle. "Lightweight," Shikamaru says.

Neji gives an imperceptible shrug, "I never liked sake."

Shikamaru eyes Neji's clothes, "That bad, huh?"

Neji flicks his eyes away. Shikamaru gives him a grimace, "It just gets worse."

It's in that moment that Neji realizes that Shikamaru, in terms of rank, is his superior. He knows more, has been on more missions, and has more seniority. He knows, in that moment, that he should probably accept his words as truth. But he refuses to acknowledge that he could have a harder mission, that it _could_ get any worse. Maybe it is some residual childish denial.

Either way, Neji feels like protesting because the thought _that it gets worse _is a depressing one, and Neji doesn't need any more melancholy as it is.

His mind is drawn away from his denial when Shikamaru leans in, placing his long forearms on the table. His eyes are the same dull brown shade but now there is a spark in their muddy depths. So the Nara leans on the table, with his sake bottle safe in the space between his forearms and his torso, and he says:

"Guess who I saw yesterday?"

* * *

The Rookie Nine, Team Gai, and Sai convene in a single booth of Yakiniku. Unlike this morning, there is no sake on the table. No food or water to distract from conversation. And Shikamaru, clearly, is the orchestrator of this gathering. He is leaning on his forearms again, asking, "What will we do?"

Kiba's voice is harsh as he asks, "What do you mean what do we do?"

"She's been gone for so long," Sakura says softly. Naruto sends her a side glance. It is a dull look. He thinks she is stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I still can't believe she just left us like that," Ino says. Her long blonde hair has been pulled back into a ponytail. Unlike the days of her youth, there are no pieces of hair to frame her face. It is a sign of hardening, for her. It is her way of saying that she needs both eyes to see her enemy better. She needs to keep the long hair out her way. The style change happened shortly after Hinata left.

It was one of the most drastic things she had ever done up to date.

Naruto fights the urge to roll his eyes.

"First Sasuke, now Hinata, ne?" The members of Team Kakashi tense at Sai's words. He is still blunt, still ignorant of sensitive subjects. Naruto's jaw tenses again, and Sakura can feel the chakra collecting in her knuckles, waiting to be released onto Sai's white skin.

"I don't know all the details, but it seems…" Choji trails off, letting the unspoken word float in the air. _Selfish._

The silent agreement from Team Gai makes Shikamaru sigh, scrubbing at his face with a hand. He forgets, sometimes, that the people around him cannot read his mind. They are not objective thinkers, still too caught up in the betrayal to get to the heart of the matter—the _cause._

"Naruto," he says. His Hokage's blue eyes meet his.

"Did you read her mission report?"

Naruto just blinks at him. His hands clench under the table. "I've only managed to get a little ways into it. It's fairly detailed."

Naruto knows that his previous comment is a drastic understatement. He knows that Hinata's mission report is a book, an adventure book full of political intrigue and encounters with foreign missing-nin. He does not say this to the Nine, because it will not make them anymore sympathetic to her plight to know that she had such a good time away from Konoha.

Away from them.

Shino speaks up then, "Why must we judge her so harshly?"

Ino meets his eyes, incredulous, "What do you mean, Shino? She left _Konoha, _she left _us. _She had duties _here._"

"She left on a mission," Kiba says. His tone is a decibel away from a snarl. Sakura stops herself from rolling her eyes.

"C'mon, Konoha has been in good with the other nations when Tsunade-shishou sent Hinata on a diplomatic mission."

Tenten chimed in, "The mission was unnecessary. There must have been another reason for her leaving."

Shikamaru leaned on the table again, "Which begs the question, _why?_"

"I think," Rock Lee stated, "that it would be very unyouthful of us to judge her without knowing her motives for leaving."

He got up from the table, brushing off a minute amount of dirt from his flak jacket. His round eyes met that of everyone else's. And before he left, he bestowed on them the words of wisdom:

"If even her comrades are so quick to judge her without knowing the entirety of her situation, perhaps she should have stayed away for a longer time period, ne?"

* * *

_A Week Later_

Is she wrong for this?

She wants to fidget as she stands outside their door. The hallway is empty. Dark wooden floors seem to stretch for ages. She wants herhand to rise on its own to knock on the door in front of her. It doesn't. All her body wants is to stay stationary outside of this door. Lavender eyes blink once, squeezing shut then opening with a new resolve. She wants to see them. She _needs _to see them.

See how they are doing, since she's been away.

Just like that her hand flies to the door, tapping out a staccato rhythm that echoes down the hall. She takes one more glance down to the floor. Those wooden slabs do not seem to stretch on forever anymore.

As the door opens, she meets his eyes directly, "Hello Shino-kun. Won't you and Kiba-kun join me?"

Shino just fixes her with a stare. She meets it though she is quaking like a leaf. He gave a little exhale of breath, and if it was anyone else, she would be tempted to name that puff of air a sigh, but since it is since, the puff of breath is a release of air because he's been holding his breath for a minute too long. She watches him move deeper into his apartment, no doubt looking for his roommate.

Hinata smiles to herself. _Little triumphs._

They relax on a roof, somewhere in Konoha, reclining on a square piece of cloth and eating food from a basket. Kiba does not know where Hinata picked up on this way of eating. But the sun is shining down on his back and Akamaru is warm at their sides, head in Hinata's lap. It was like, to Akamaru, that Hinata had never departed from them. As soon as they spread themselves on the blanket, his head had sought out Hinata's lap. Hinata had started stroking his head and hadn't stopped since.

Kiba takes his time to eat as much of Hinata's cooking as he can. For these three years, he has been deprived and so he gorges as if he is a man in the desert who has found an oasis with a water source. He is not so far gone to notice that Hinata isn't touching a single thing, and it is like she made this meal with them solely in mind, for all their favorite foods are in the basket, and none of hers.

It isn't until they are both full of food, that is no doubt slowing turning into a nutrient-rich soup in their stomachs, that she opens her mouth.

"It is selfish of me to say this," Hinata says. "I will not ask for your forgiveness, but I will ask for your friendship."

Their silence invades her mind, sowing seeds of doubt. Perhaps she should have given more than a week to come to grasps with her reappearance with their lives. Before the seeds can sprout, she puts a layer of soil over them and then a sheet of bedrock. No, such seeds will not help her now.

Shino says, "We missed you."

It's out of her mouth before she can think, "I'm here now."

"Who's to say that you won't leave again?" Kiba challenges.

The answer is slower as she takes the time to look all of them in the eyes, Akamaru included, "I promise you."

Akamaru gives a bark and knocks her off the blanket. They tumble a little ways down the roof before Hinata's chakra finds purchase on the wall. Akamaru's flat tongue moves over her face several times. Hinata can sense his tail wagging.

Just like that, they believe her. Just like that, they are whole.

They're Team Kurenai again.

* * *

Sakura and Naruto walk along the streets. The vendors in the market whisper to themselves.

_What a beautiful couple. _

A male customer sighs as Sakura walks by him. For a moment she is close enough to reach out and touch. The customer can her breath, can smell the rosemary that permeates the air around her. He wants to reach out, wants to see if the locks of pink hair are as soft as they seem. He wonders, if he touches her, if the scent of rosemary will linger long after she has walked away.

But the male customer fancies over her for too long and by the time he is ready to act on his thoughts, Sakura is moving away engrossed in conversation again with Hokage-sama.

Instead, the customer turns his attention to his Hokage. His back is broad; shoulders squared and yellow hair kisses the collar of his Kage robes. How he wishes he could speak to Sakura-sama so easily.

(He doesn't realize this, but he could if he wished. Sakura is not some display at a museum with the sign 'Do not touch'. She is kunoichi, but human as well. She would smile at the male customer, if he but opened his mouth to speak.)

The male customer, resigned, raises his voice to speak, "Hello, Hokage-sama, Sakura-sama!"

They both raise a hand in acknowledgement, and the market watches them from the corner of their eyes. But their attention is diverted from their bright heads to observe a darker trio.

Team Eight has reunited.

They are robust in their love for one another, joyous in their relief at their reunion. They are _whole _again. Akamaru's tail is _wagging_ again. Kiba's tattoos are _distorted_ again, from his smiles that draw that red marks across his cheeks. Shino's aura is _happy_ again because more than a dog and a man remembers he _exists_.

And Hinata.

They do not remember such a free person on Team Kurenai. They remember a sad Wisp who looked ready to cry rather than buy something from the market. They think the Wisp might have smiled but they do not remember it. She might have bought something but they do not remember it. She might have hugged her teammates, might have laughed and joked with them, but they do not recall.

She is doing all these things now. They will burn this sight into their eyes. They will remember the way she hooks a thin arm around the waists of her teammates, the way she smiles now, the easy way she breaks away from them to buy a pear. The way the juice dribbles down her chin. The way Akamaru jumps on her to lick it off.

But they will mostly remember her laughter. It is a like a bell, peals of sound that reach the ears of those nearby. Her hair swings back, and in that moment the women of the marketplace wonder at the light yellow pollen near the ends of that blue-black mass of tresses.

All of them wonder at this contrast and how it came to be.

The market people are too enchanted with Team Kurenai to notice their Kage's expression. His jaw clenches and those blue eyes flash. For a moment, he _is _that display at the museum with the 'Do not touch' sign. Better yet, he is that poisonous snake in an animal exhibit, with the sign 'Do not tap the glass.'

He is aggravated as it is. A touch would certainly push him over the edge.

Then, like magic his jaw loosens and the blue eyes stop flashing. He is not aggravated, though _she _walks the market place, happy as could be. Though her teammates smile down at her as if she never left Konoha, left the Rookie Nine, left—

No. He does not retain the privilege of anger at _her_, for she did not leave _him_. She just left _Konoha_, and perhaps if he had gone through what she had, he would leave too.

And with this thought, he walks away, moving deeper into Konoha, away from the market place. He does not wait for Sakura. He moves away from her, because for _once _he cannot stand to see her shine like she does in those moments in the market place.

He can see her light now, and it hurts his eyes, for she is more radiant than the time during the Chuunin Exams, more so than the time with Pein and her light is not muted like the day she told him she had a mission.

This is _her_, developed in entirety, and she is _bright._

* * *

Let these few lines express my appreciation for the people who have given some sort of feedback-be it a review, or favorite-ing or following it. Thank you so much. It's one of the things that inspire me to keep writing, to know that someone likes my work. It amazes me that many people, from so many different parts of the world, can all enjoy one thing. It gives me the warmest feeling to know that it is my fanfiction.

Tell me, readers, what do you think? Constructive criticism is always welcome; surely you are aware of this?

The next chapter should come quicker.

Thank you for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE: The moon embarks on a journey…

A lone man looks over Kumo. He is standing on the highest mountain, careless of the way the wind sends his long black hair into a chaotic whirling vortex that falls over his left shoulder. Up here he can feel the air above him crackling with charged particles. The thunderheads halo his body, and though the people of Kumo cannot see the silhouette of the man, they can see the thunder clouds.

They are the only warnings the people of Kumo will get.

The man unsheathes a wicked katana blade, and raises it to the sky, a single bolt of lightning arcs to the earth to meet his blade. The lightning makes its way from the tip of the katana to the hilt. Once it reaches…

The man soars through the air, flying toward the Raikage's tower.

* * *

Hinata is tickling Kyou-chan. He is squirming, trying to get away from her ruthless, seeking fingers. Kyou lets out a high-pitched half-scream as Hinata tickles the undersides of his feet. She is laughing, a breathless laugh. Such activities do not leave her winded, but she is breathless because she is watching Kyou, his little body, his little feet, the slightly chubby stomach and the unruly spikes. She is breathless because she is mesmerized with the beauty of her godson, and she is in awe of the idea that Kurenai carried something like _this_ in her womb for nine months.

Yes, her lungs lack air, but not because tickling Kyou requires a lot of effort.

She reaches out and strokes his cheek. Kyou's eyes snap open, and instead of meeting her eyes, they fixate on something over her shoulder. His red irises relay emotions of fear and wariness. Hinata turns his dimpled chin, forcing his eyes to meet hers.

"Hinata-san, the Hokage has assigned you a mission," the ANBU says. Hinata does not tear her gaze from Kyou. She sighs inwardly. She'd hoped that she could keep Kyou occupied for a longer span of time, enough to slip into the kitchen and tell his mother that the ANBU came for her.

Alas.

"Kyou-chan, I'll be fine," she says quietly.

"You'll come back?" he whispers.

"Completely whole," Hinata whispers to him.

"Good, 'cause if you come back with _anything_, even a _scratch_, I _swear_ I'll—I'll—"

Hinata watches Kyou puff up with six-year-old rage at the thought of her injured. He suddenly slumps, laying his back on the wooden floor. He watches her with weary eyes, and it comes to Hinata that perhaps many of his ninja playmates have been called away in the midst of play to complete a mission.

"I won't, will I?" Kyou says quietly.

Hinata offers him a small, unreadable smile. No, he won't do anything to the person who hurt her if she came back from this mission hurt. He wouldn't know who hurt her; six-year-olds were not privy to mission details. She wants to tell him that if she does come back hurt, that Kyou can visit her, bring her some rosemary sprigs. She wants to tell him to cry, if he so wishes, because she can see him fighting back tears. She wants to tell him many things, but overall, Hinata wants to keep playing the tickling game with him.

Instead, Hinata presses a kiss to his forehead. "I'll come back to you, I promise."

She is surprised the ANBU has not said anything yet.

In a fluid movement, she is on her feet, padding into the kitchen. "Mission," she states to Kurenai. The woman just nods, not moving her eyes away from the bubbling pot.

The next thing Hinata registers, she is standing outside the Hokage's door, waiting to enter.

* * *

She is not alone. Hinata takes a breath of relief. In the same span of time, she notes that Sakura's hair seems to have stayed short over the years, Chouji has grown wider, and Hinata believes that he must have a hard time fitting through the door. She deduces that he must use that larger window to enter and leave the Hokage's Office. In the next second, her lavender eyes rivet on Naruto's form.

She is excited to see him. She has always wanted to see him as more than _Naruto_. Yes, Hinata has waited ages to see Naruto as _Hokage_, ever since she first witnessed him announce his dream to a disbelieving classroom.

"Hinata," her Hokage says. His hands are folded, reminding her of the Godaime. Hinata blinks before nodding her acknowledgement.

"It seems that the Raikage has been… paralyzed. He is unresponsive to any stimuli. His body has been twitching, as if he was electrocuted by a Lightning Jutsu. He also has multiple lacerations, the most serious being on his chest. Sakura, this is the reason you will be going on this mission; you will attend to the Raikage's wounds. Chouji, you are there to protect this team in case of the return of the Raikage's attacker. You must also be there to help Kumo reconstruct their village; it seems that the attack on the Raikage struck the surrounding mountains, which tumbled onto living spaces around the area," Naruto informs. His voice is low and urgent. Hinata is dazzled for a moment before she notices:

"Hokage-sama, why am I on this mission? Surely, I am not necessary." Hinata's comment is not one full of self-doubt; she is no medic, she is not a heavy hitter. She fails to see how she could contribute to this team.

Naruto just shakes his head, blond hair falling over his forehead. The spikes do nothing to soften the hard gaze he drills into Hinata.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out; they requested your presence specifically."

_Oh? _Hinata's eyes widen marginally, before narrowing. _Oh._

_Holding explosive chakra in her palms, she can feel the potency, the promise of burns on her hands and forearms if she does not do something, quickly. She shivered with the power, before she coats her hands in her own blue life force._

"How fast must we be there, Hokage-sama?" Chouji asks. His face is a stone wall, unmovable.

"They wish for you as soon as possible. If you could, hurry," Naruto demands. Though it is phrased as a request, the shinobi do not waste time. Two blurs leave the room. Hinata stays, measuring her Hokage with her eyes.

Three years ago, Naruto would have crumbled under her gaze, those two pale vortexes on her face sucking him in deeper and deeper until he found himself nose to nose with her. The pull, even now he feels it. But there is a desk separating them today and he is not Naruto, the village hero. He is Hokage. Instead of falling under Hinata's spell he meets her gaze, his hard blue clashing with her entrancing lavender-pearl.

"It's nice to see you again, Uzumaki-kun," Hinata murmurs. Her voice travels, gracing his ears with its sound. Still Naruto wonders why his last name, while said so sweetly, reads to him as a curse rather than an appellation.

As if she is condemning something, not calling to him.

He swallows. "Yeah," his voice rolls from his lips, dry and brittle like after Naruto wakes up and before he drinks a glass of water, "Yeah, it's nice to see you, too. Welcome back."

Idly, Naruto marvels at the disappearance of his discontent with her. Now that Hinata is in front of him, should he not be angry? What is he feeling at this moment, if he is not angry?

Hinata's fingers almost reach for the hem of her loose shirt. Naruto watches avidly as she seems to straighten, growing taller and settling her shoulders back into posture fit for a royal. He flashes back to three days ago, when he saw Hinata laughing in the marketplace. Even then, she walked like a royal, laughed with the abandon of the affluent, smiled like an estranged duchess.

Suddenly, his annoyance with her comes back to him, and he opens him mouth and the accusatory words come out: "You've changed," he says. "As if you've grown happier."

Hinata blinks at him.

"Yes," she states slowly, thrown off by his change in tone. Her next words drip from her lips like molasses and she gives a quick smile to the wooden floor. "I have."

The next time she meets his eyes, her eyes no longer suck him in. They are magnifying glasses that a physician might use, and just as professional. "When I come back, would you like to have the scroll?"

Naruto just nods. "That'll be fine."

"Understood, Hokage-sama."

Damn it, even his title falls from her mouth nicely. Naruto blinks and Hinata is gone from his room, probably scavenging to find a sealing scroll.

The Hokage runs a hand over his face, already flashing back to the way she called him: _"Uzumaki-kun."_

There is a multitude of things he'd like to voice at this moment. His office is empty, Mina is off today, and the ANBU practice selective hearing.

Out loud, all he says is: "Be okay, old man."

* * *

Hello again! Another chapter, finished. Thank you, beta.

Also, review, dear fanfiction-ers.

Thank you for reading.


End file.
